Don't go to Vegas
by LongRider
Summary: What if Alicia Baker had left Clark Kent in Las Vegas and he had met Cordelia Chase while on Red K? Set in Smallville season 4 and Buffy season 4.
1. Meet Clark Kent

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement or insult is intended. Reviews are always welcome. Lawsuits are not.

* * *

Awareness asserted itself slowly in Clark Kent.

As was his custom, he woke up with the sunrise. Which for some reason was too bright this morning.

Squinting his eyes against the unfamiliar sensations, Clark tried to figure out how he came to be here.

_Come to think of it where was here?_

Taking stock of himself while at the same time trying to shut out the noise that was too loud this morning. Clark gingerly sat up in the bed he had been sleeping in moments earlier.

_It sounded like the cast of stomp were in the surrounding rooms._

_Rooms?_

Near as he could tell, he was in a hotel room. Looking about slowly,_ his head felt too heavy,_ he managed to spot the door to the bathroom just as his body demanded he use it.

Carefully getting his feet under him, Clark stood up unsteadily and with one hand in constant contact with the wall for balance, proceeded to shuffle past the discarded clothes that made a trail from the room door to the bed.

It was after using the facilities and in the midst of gulping down plastic cup after plastic cup of cool refreshing tap water, _he was so thirsty,_ that Clark realised only half of the clothes on the floor belonged to him.

Eyes widening in alarm, Clark peeked around the bathroom door at the large bed.

There, lying wrapped up in the same sheets he had been sleeping in, he saw a beautiful girl fast asleep, her breathing even and steady, her tousled brunette hair in disarray, a little hint of a smile on her face that was a telltale sign of pleasant dreams.

Clark had no idea who she was.

Looking down at the floor in hope of finding answers, Clark realised he was naked.

Quickly covering himself up in case the girl opened her eyes, Clark set about getting dressed as quickly and stealthily as he was able.

It was only as he was buttoning his shirt that a shiny glimmer caught his eye.

Clark froze as he spotted the source.

He was wearing a wedding ring.

The floodgates of his memory sprung open at that very moment.

Clark remembered everything.

He remembered Alicia and putting on that necklace she had made for him.

He remembered them heading to Las Vegas to get married.

He remembered her chickening out and teleporting away at the last moment.

He remembered deciding to stick around to have some fun.

But most of all he remembered what happened after he had met the pretty brunette currently sleeping in the bed. _Their bed. _

She was wearing a wedding ring too.

"Oh crap."


	2. Meet Cordelia Kent

Cordelia slept in absolute luxury. The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee reaching out and coaxing her back to wakefulness.

Cordelia stretched in the large bed and rolled over. Enjoying the feel of the egyptian cotton against her bare skin. _It was just so comfortable._

Reaching out for one of the cups on the small side table, _obviously left for her by some sweet, thoughtful soul, _she added cream and sugar and with a contented sigh, proceeded to enjoy every single sip.

It had been a long time since she had been able to enjoy the finer things in life.

In her last year of high school her family had gone from riches to rags because her father hadn't paid his taxes in . . . well . . . ever.

Cordelia had been blissfully unaware of the situation, carrying on with her life, enjoying reading the multiple college acceptance letters she had received over and over again. Planning her escape from Sunnydale and all the things that she had learned really did go bump in the night.

Looking forward to what she had optimistically thought of as her fresh start.

Cordelia had been in love, or thought she had, with Xander Harris of all people. It had cost her dearly, first her reputation with her so called peers. Then her heart with his betrayal over a fling with Willow Rosenberg.

It was then that Cordelia learned a painful lesson. _Well, after she had gone to the hospital to get that metal rod removed from her mid section. _

If you trusted people, sooner or later, they would let you down.

Friendless and with no family to help, _her parents would both be spending the next few years behind bars but at least they had a roof over their heads._ Cordelia had decided to strike out on her own.

She had originally planned to go to Los Angeles and become a successful actress. But thanks to some sort of mix up with her bus ticket, _it just had to have something to do with that unhelpful lady at the ticket booth,_ she had found her way to Las Vegas.

Taking it as a sign that maybe the universe was cutting her a break. She planned to strike it rich at the casinos, _if so many others she had read about could do it, why not her? _ Cordelia had booked into a moderately passable, low rent motel and spent her evenings in her few remaining better dresses at one casino or another.

Poker wasn't her game, _she never won a single hand,_ craps was a disaster and after a soul crushing turn at the roulette table one night, Cordelia had gotten very philosophical about life, fate and how she seemed to be the universes favourite punching bag.

Then she had met _him._

A gorgeous hunk of a man in a tastefully expensive suit. Tall, broad shouldered and with dark shaggy hair her fingers itched to run through.

_Hello salty goodness._

He had given her a single chip for the roulette table and advised her to try one more time. The whole time smiling that devastating smile as if he knew a secret nobody else did. By then her mind was made up. _Want, want, WANT!_

Within seconds of placing the chip down Cordelia Chase's life took a turn for the better.

From that moment on, no matter where she placed her chips, she kept on winning, after a dozen consecutive wins left her with more money than she had seen in a very long time and the casino pit boss watching her suspiciously, Cordelia decided to leave with her cash and her new good luck charm before something bad happened.

Funnily enough, just as they were leaving, there was a big commotion as everybody in the casino seemed to win big. _Guess it was just the night for good luck._

They had spent the entire night in each other's company, celebrating her good fortune.

Somehow they had found themselves at a chapel, with a marriage license and rings bought with their winnings.

A brief moment of doubt flashed in her mind, asking herself, _what are you doing? You barely know this man._ But it was quickly dismissed.

What she did know was that she loved the way he looked at her, she loved the way he listened to her. She really loved the way he kissed her, he was perfect.

He was perfect for her and part of that perfection had been having one tiny flaw for her to fix. The flaw being that necklace he had worn.

She had taken care of that some time before dawn, while he had been sleeping, she'd carefully removed the ugly thing so as not to wake him, _which had been really impressive considering how much they'd both had to drink, _then stealthily flushed it down the toilet. Her work done, she returned to bed and sleep.

She had come to Las Vegas months ago for a fresh start with practically nothing. In the space of a single night she had gotten herself a stack of money, designer clothes, a great place to stay and a husband.

Life was good.

While looking at their marriage certificate again, Cordelia finished the coffee that Clark must have ordered for her. _Cordelia Kent, Clark and Cordelia Kent. Mr and Mrs Kent. She even loved how their names sounded together._

Feeling great and loving how her life had turned around. She couldn't help catching sight of her reflection in the bedroom mirror. Cordelia realised she had a glow about her._ Her wedding night had been breathtaking. Whoever said marriage was a lot of hard work was obviously full of crap._

Hearing the sound of running water, Cordelia Kent decided to start day one as a married woman by joining her very thoughtful husband for a shower.

_What could go wrong?_


	3. Leaving Las Vegas

Clark Kent kept his eyes on the road and his hands on the wheel at all times.

He'd really gone and done it this time.

It was worse than his crime spree in Metropolis.

It was worse than the time he'd accidentally thrown the tractor clear across town.

It was worse than the time he'd nearly set the school on fire.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he loosened his grip on the steering wheel. The car was a rental. If he damaged it, questions would be asked.

It was bad enough Cordelia had almost cost him the security deposit with her turn behind the wheel, nearly crashing them into several different cars as they weaved in and out of traffic and complaining the whole time about other drivers, making Clark seriously fear for his safety _and for a guy who for all intents and purposes was invulnerable, that was saying something._

It would have been so easy to just jump out and run the distance to Smallville in the space of a few short hours, instead he'd demanded she pull over, resisted the urge of throwing her in the trunk and swapped seats with her. It was going to take over a day and a half to drive home to the farm.

Glancing briefly at his wife, _and didn't that still sound weird,_ Clark noticed she still had her arms folded across her chest while staring out at the evening sky. _Was she still sulking?_

Clark had attempted to explain what had happened the night before without giving away his secret. _He couldn't very well tell her that the reason she had won so many times was because of him and his super speed. _ When that didn't work he had tried to reason with her. _It hadn't gone well._

After the less than fun morning argument Clark had tried to get the marriage annulled in Las Vegas at a justice of the peace. It had been going fine, after waiting for most of the afternoon, Clark had finally gotten his turn to submit his application for annulment.

He had listened to the officer of the court read through the application, then read through the conditions and legal jargon involved with the process of getting their marriage annulled.

Only to watch in horror as Cordelia stepped forward and informed everybody in the court that they had consummated their marriage like bunnies. Thereby invalidating the annulment process and leaving everybody there sharing a knowing grin as Clark dropped his head in embarrassment and fought the urge to strangle his darling wife.

The judge had fought hard not to laugh as he patiently informed Clark that if he wanted to end his marriage he'd have to talk his wife into a divorce.

After one glance at the expression on Cordelia's face, he wished Clark good luck.

The sound of the entire court giggling followed them as they left the large room.

Smiling happily, Cordelia had looped her arm around his and led him out of the building.

Clark had been too stunned to resist.

* * *

Cordelia Kent sat in the passenger seat beside her husband as he drove silently into the late evening. Arms folded across her chest, pouting in annoyance.

_The honeymoon was officially over._

Her husband had suddenly turned into mister modesty when she had tried to join him in the shower that morning. _What was the point of having a body like that if he wouldn't even let his own wife touch it? _

He'd asked her about the necklace he'd been wearing. When she told him it was gone he'd then gone on to talk about divorce and Cordelia hadn't taken it well.

She'd hit the roof. _ That damn eyesore couldn't have meant that much to him!_

He'd said that someone had slipped him something that lowered his inhibitions. _Which meant he had really wanted to marry her._

He'd said that he was still in high school. That had taken her by surprise. _ He was still old enough to get married though, still legal._

He'd said he needed to go back home to Smallville. She said she'd come with him. _ What the hell was the problem? _

He'd gone on to argue that she wasn't listening to him. _She was listening just fine._ He'd married her because he wanted to and he needed to go back home to finish school. _ There was absolutely nothing wrong with her hearing._

Cordelia glanced at Clark out of the corner of her eye. He wouldn't let her join him in the shower, He wouldn't let her drive. She wondered if he'd burst into flames if she put the radio on.

Her husband seriously had a stick up his butt about something. _He was just so sensitive. This was turning out to be one hell of a period of adjustment. _

It was only thanks to Cordelia meeting two newlyweds when she first came to Vegas that she had even known about such a thing. Not for the first time did she wish she'd had better parents who would have taken the time to explain what to expect in later life.

The fact Clark had wanted to end their marriage before it had begun was a little hurtful. But she also remembered that her former newlywed neighbours at the motel had more arguments than she could count the first week they had been there. Usually stemming from the tiniest little thing. Of course the second week had been equally noisy with their bouts of make-up sex. Which had gotten her out of her thinly walled room and started her first visits to the casinos.

If they were a typical example of a newlywed couple, then she was really looking forward to next week.

In retrospect, she admitted it might have been a mistake to flush that awful necklace he'd had on before talking to him about it. They didn't have great communication in their relationship yet and Cordelia was damned if she'd let her marriage turn out like her parents one.

That said, she couldn't help but wonder what happened to cause such a personality shift from the confident, well dressed stallion with the devil-may-care-smile, into the shy, plaid wearing well mannered gentleman, who she found equally endearing. It was like she was with two different men.

Deciding that all of this deep thinking wouldn't get her any answers, Cordelia Kent decided to start working on their communication.

"So, what's it like in Smallville?" _Nice and civil, she could do civil._

Silence.

"You said you lived on a farm?"

Even more silence. _Was he still upset with her?_

"Are the locals going to chase me out of town with pitchforks and torches when we get there?" His mouth twitched that time.

"Please tell me you don't have a nosy neighbour interested in the details of our sex life." He flushed with embarrassment that time. _Ah ha!_

"Oh god! You do! What the hell do I do when I meet them?" He chuckled that time.

"Tell Lois to mind her own business." _Lois? Who's Lois?_

"Who's Lois?" Cordelia relaxed more now that she had gotten Clark talking.

"She's the cousin of my best friend. She came to Smallville when Chloe went missing for a time." Cordelia straightened at the fond smile she could see forming on her husband's face at the mention of two other women in his life. _Didn't he have any male friends?_

"Don't you have any male friends?" She thought it, she said it. Cordelia had never seen the point in being dishonest. She'd seen how badly some people lied. _What was the point?_

"Not really, Pete left for Wichita last year and I always have a lot to do." _Oh god, her husband was mister responsibility, no wonder he was so uptight._

"What about your parents? Are they nice people?" Cordelia hoped they were nice. Clark was nice, when he wasn't being impossible, so it stood to reason he'd been raised by nice people.

"The best." Clarks smile was easy to see. _So decent parents existed, who knew?_

"Do they know about us?" She'd hate to have to explain that one to them.

"I called them at the last rest stop. What about your family? Have you spoken to your parents?" Clark asked.

"I don't talk to my parents." It wasn't a lie, she hadn't spoken to her parents for years, she could have, she just didn't want to. Now with them in prison she didn't even have that option anymore.

"Oh. I'm sorry." _He was such a sweetheart. _ She could tell he meant it, he didn't know the details, but he was caring and supportive. Her husband was a good man.

She was definitely keeping him.


End file.
